Following on from my Stranger Things season 1 and season 2 handy guides, here is the not-so-long awaited guide for season 3. I don’t make you wait years like the Duffer Brothers. I’m a professional.
Even though Stranger Things season 3 is the weakest season so far, I promise I will still put 100% effort into this article, probably. We’ll see how it goes.
Oh… spoilers.
Stranger Things Season 3: Synopsis
Summer, 1985. Hawkins laboratory has closed down. Russian scientists have established a secret underground base nearby and are attempting to open a new portal to The Upside Down.
Their meddling re-activates particles of the Mind Flayer that remained in our world when Eleven closed the previous portal at the end of season 2.
The Mind Flayer particles infect rats and then people, starting with Max’s already unhinged brother, Billy. The bodies of the ‘flayed’ combine to create a flesh version of the Mind Flayer (The Meat Flayer?), who is hellbent on killing Eleven and everyone she cares about because he’s a dick like that.
Our ever-expanding roster of teenage and adult heroes set out to infiltrate the Russian base, expose the corrupt mayor of Hawkins, destroy the frickin’ laser beam that’s creating the portal, smash communism and defeat The Meat Flayer, all in time for the Fourth of July celebrations. There will be fireworks one way or another.
Stranger Things Season 3: Review
Welcome to season 3 of Stranger Things, where we finally get to say hello to the 1980s.
Yes, I realise that seasons 1 and 2 are also set in the 1980s, but that was Amblin Entertainment 1980s, which was a hangover from the late 1970s. I’m talking about the real 1980s. The one with perms, Madonna, malls, day-glo pink leg warmers and Phoebe Cates in a red bikini. THAT 1980s.
Because of this, and the summer setting (the first two seasons were set in October and November), season 3 represents quite a departure in terms of the look and vibe of the show: bright and hopeful rather than cold and dark. I applaud them for trying something different, but it isn’t the best fit for a creepy horror show.
One of the things I noticed during my series rewatch is that the seeds of some of the worst decisions of season 3 are sown in season 2. The Terminator is advertised on the TV in season 2, which foreshadows season 3’s Terminator-like Russian henchman. It isn’t a bad idea, but the reference is so blatant that it borders on embarrassing, like the show runners would die if even a single person didn’t get it.
Investigative reporter turned conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman says Russian spies are occupying secret bases in the USA early on in season 2. Ha ha, that loony. Oh wait, they really went there in season 3.
Worst of all is Lucas’ insufferable younger sister Erica, who is introduced in season 2 in a mercifully brief cameo. Her role is greatly expanded in season 3 (yay).
Peak Woke
But Erica is not alone in being insufferable in season 3. She has serious competition from EVERY SINGLE female character in the show. I mean it. All of them.
Except Mike’s mum. She’s awesome.
Eleven, Max, Nancy, Joyce and new girl Robin (Maya Hawke) are all nagging girlbosses who constantly belittle the men and are always right. Steve gets the worst of it. The former babe magnet and most popular guy at Hawkins High is now an object of ridicule in a sailor’s outfit who can’t get a girlfriend.
Although season 3 is set in 1985, we can’t escape the fact that it was made in 2018/2019. Peak woke era. I didn’t notice it as much on my first watch, but Stranger Things definitely didn’t emerge unscathed from this cultural plague.
Other examples include Nancy working at a newspaper with an all-male team who are more sexist and clichéd than an Anchorman movie.
Season 3 also treats us to a double helping of gay. Not that I have an issue with that. I’m just pointing it out as another hallmark of peak woke.
The show has dropped vague hints about Will’s homosexuality since the VERY FIRST EPISODE (a bit weird, seeing as he was so young). But in season 3 we hear the loud creaking of the closet door. He hasn’t emerged just yet, but the show leaves little doubt.
Robin is gay as well (spoiler). After an entire season bantering with Steve, it seems that our guy is finally going to get a break and hook up with her. But no. It’s a nice twist, to be fair. I am fully supportive of this gay storyline.
Mall Rats
Much of the action in Stranger Things season 3 centres around Starcourt Mall, a brand-new shopping mall that has opened on the outskirts of Hawkins and turned the town centre into a ghost town. It feels eerily familiar to today.
The Russians built the mall as a front for their secret subterranean base, aided by the corrupt Hawkins mayor, Larry Kline (Cary Elwes). Apparently the Russians were able to construct a 1960s Bond villain lair in less than a year during the Cold War with the help of literally one guy and without requiring any local labour or attracting any suspicion.
Just…how? The base is miles underground and includes a ten-mile long tunnel. Buying into this concept requires a serious suspension of disbelief, and not everybody is that charitable.
I now understand why some of you Outposters noped out of this show in season 3 and never returned.
Redemption Arc
Despite all this, season 3 is far from being a total loss. The Meat Flayer is well done, combining elements of The Thing and The Blob to create a gruesome marvel of a monster. Eleven’s psychic journey into Billy’s mind is a trip and brings nuance to his character (and a welcome edge to the season).
The women seem to pipe down and become less annoying as the season progresses and shit gets real, culminating in a truly outstanding finale – The Battle of Starcourt Mall. For once, Eleven isn’t the all-powerful hero who saves the day. She loses her powers after being bitten by the Meat Flayer and is saved by Billy in an unexpected moment of redemption.
Ultimately, that is what Stranger Things does best: it never loses sight of its characters, even when chaos is erupting around them. Everybody has a role to play, and nobody is left behind. The show always finds time for important character beats and conversations.
You care about these guys, so you fear for them. The show excels in creating a genuine threat but at the same time not killing off its heroes unnecessarily for the shock factor. Life has value in Stranger Things, so you really feel it when they do pull the rug and kill off a major character at The Battle of Starcourt Mall.
Okay, so it’s a fake out, but we didn’t know that at the time.
For a show that undermines its drama with comedy for much of season 3, it gets it right in the end.
Stranger Things season 3 spins its wheels in terms of the mythology. We learn nothing new about the nature of the Upside Down. But don’t worry, season 4 will be along soon, and it will right an awful lot of wrongs.
Handy Checklist
Release date: July 2019.
Number of episodes: 8.
Season runtime: 444 minutes. That compares to 402 minutes for season 1 and 466 minutes for season 2.
Timeline: one week, 28 June – 4 July 1985. The epilogue takes place later in later July/August.
Inciting incident: Russian scientists open a crack to The Upside Down, which re-activates particles of the Mind Flayer already in our world.
The human monsters: Mayor Larry Kline (Cary Elwes), who colludes with the Russians. Grigori (Andrey Ivchenko), a Russian Terminator. Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery). Already a massive dickhead, now he’s possessed by the Mind Flayer.
The actual monster: The Meat Flayer – a version of The Mind Flayer comprised not of smoke/evil dust, but the mulched-up bodies of its victims.
Demogorgon variant: None. We don’t see a Demogorgon until the epilogue, and when we do, it is the fully grown version from season 1.
Red shirt character: Alexei (Alec Utgoff), a Slurpee-loving Russian scientist who loves America, wins over the audience and then gets shot.
Main movie influences on the season: The Terminator, The Thing, The Blob, The Stuff, Day of the Dead, War Games, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Evil Dead II, Jurassic Park.
Key songs: a cringe rendition of Limahl’s The Neverending Story by Dustin and Suzy. Material Girl by Madonna. We’ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn.
Season MVP: Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman). No wonder he was promoted to the main cast for season 4.
Emotional moment: Eleven reading a letter from Hopper in the epilogue. Or Will destroying Castle Byers because his friends are growing up faster than him and are more interested in girls than Dungeons and Dragons. Change can be a bitch sometimes.
‘Fuck yeah!’ moment: Billy resisting the Meat Flayer and saving Eleven in the finale.
